Privacy, Affiliate Links, Cookies: This site uses cookies, including to identify the country you are visiting from and to measure traffic to third-party sites.

I invest a lot of time and money into running this site, and I use affiliate links to help get a little of this money back. If you click on an affiliate link and purchase anything, I will receive a small commission. These affiliate providers use cookies to understand the referrals I've made and whether an ad was shown. These cookies do not reveal your identity, web use, or other behaviour.

By continuing to use this site, you agree to the use of cookies. To learn more about what cookies are stored and how they're used, you can find my Privacy Policy here:
Privacy Policy

By using some of these links, you're helping to keep Dani Reviews Things up and running. Thank you!

Star rating: Heat rating:

For fans of The Hunger Games, Battlestar Galactica, and Blade Runner comes the first book in the Partials Sequence, a fast-paced, action-packed, and riveting sci-fi teen series, by acclaimed author Dan Wells.

Humanity is all but extinguished after a war with Partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island. But sixteen-year-old Kira is determined to find a solution. As she tries desperately to save what is left of her race, she discovers that that the survival of both humans and Partials rests in her attempts to answer questions about the war's origin that she never knew to ask.

Playing on our curiosity of and fascination with the complete collapse of civilization, Partials is, at its heart, a story of survival, one that explores the individual narratives and complex relationships of those left behind, both humans and Partials alike—and of the way in which the concept of what is right and wrong in this world is greatly dependent on one's own point of view.

In a sentence

A great early performance by my favourite audiobook narrator, Partials indulged my bio geek side while still delivering an interesting and philosophical dystopian.

I’m not going to lie. I went into this mostly because I wanted to confirm my belief that Julia Whelan is a fantastic narrator. And it was confirmed. Julia brought to life Kira and the gang, so much so that I upped my rating from 3.5 to 4 stars. (This isn’t the first time this has happened.) She’s so good at giving each character a voice and accent without going overboard, and the way she uses tone, inflection and pace makes the book more like a radio play than just a reading. (Full disclosure: I did listen at 1.25x speed, but that’s a personal preference. I like fast talkers.)

Kira wanted to be a researcher, and she had a knack for science, so this book was quite heavy on the science of viruses and genetics. I think, if you’re not at least a little interested in biology, you might find this frustrating and boring. Personally? I FREAKING LOVE BIOLOGY. It was my favourite subject in school and is still a hobby interest of mine. If I was smarter as a teenager, I would have studied it for my undergrad. Anyway, you catch my drift. I really enjoyed listening to Kira analyse test results and postulate as to what they could mean.

A good book also makes you think, and this one definitely did that. On top of the biochemistry fun, Wells raised a number of philosophical questions. For example, should genetically engineered Partials that look human and have thoughts and feelings be treated like people? And in the face of near extinction, should women be forced to have baby after baby after baby? Where should the line be drawn between continuation of the human race and personal freedoms? I know what I think now, but I can’t say 100% that I’d still think the same if we found ourselves in the situation that the island residents were in.

I did like the characters, especially as narrated by Julia. I felt like I could connect most with Kira, which makes sense given that the book was from her perspective. I also appreciated how different members of the gang demonstrated different viewpoints on the various issues. Each girl had a different stance on the whole pregnancy thing, from “I really want a baby” to “I don’t think I’m ready for a baby” to “I refuse to be forced to have a child”. These were all treated as valid options, even though babies were pretty much doomed. Even though not everyone wanted one, they all banded together to help the ones that did.

I also liked the world that was described, though it wasn’t as clear as, for example, The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey. Unlike other post-apocalyptic books I’ve read, this was set years after society fell, and what remained of humanity (as far as they knew) was restricted to a town and surrounding farms near New York City. This new society had had a chance to organise themselves into a functioning unit, with rationed solar power and skills-based education. I also really liked how people acquired clothes, as I’d never thought of that! (If anyone has any recs for me for other books that take place years years/decades after the end of the world as we know it, please share!)

That ending? Wow, wasn’t expecting it! Definitely not the mysterious note left for Kira. I’m eager to get started on the next instalment to find out who/what is behind everything!

Follow me

Ways to subscribe

Like what you see?

Star ratings

0: Couldn't finish1: Want my precious reading hours back2: Could have done without it3: It was good, but it's not an essential read4: Really liked it and glad I picked it up5: Absolutely loved it and would read again

Things I’ve said

Disclaimer

Unless otherwise stated, I do not claim ownership of any images or other media.

Dani Reviews Things is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk.

Dani Reviews Things is also part of The Book Depository's affiliate program.